A Nigerian Lawyer, Opeyemi Adeyemi has lamented on the sad situation at the Federal High Court Abuja where the members of the Directorate of State Security ( DSS) have been subjecting lawyers to a demeaning scrutiny before being given access to the court.
He wrote
“Got to the Federal High Court, Abuja Division this morning and beheld a very sorry, demeaning and utterly reprehensible spectacle. Fully robed Lawyers were being stopped at the drive to the court and at the gate by DSS operatives, literally “interrogated” and forced to disclose the name of the case they came to conduct in court and the party they represent, before being allowed into the court premises. This was apart from them being thoroughly frisked like a suspect, all in the open. While all these was going on, it started drizzling.
The scene gave off the ambience of lawyers crowding a government office to seek palliatives, alas it was a Court building that they were trying to access to do their jobs.
I understand the need to maintain security when a high-profile suspect is brought to court, but there is a difference between ensuring security of the general area and security agents manifesting acts of domination and “capture” of the sacred hallways of a court.
If it’s very risky to bring the suspect for trial, perhaps his case should be fixed for Saturday, or the court sitting on his case him can move to the detention facility where he is being held to convene, or the trial can even be held via Zoom. Afterall, on the authority of Balogun vs Odumosu, Saturday is NOT a non-juridical day, and courts can convene anywhere convenient.
Even if it’s just for the optics, the appropriate security apparatus to oversee security in the court premisess is the Court security team or police unit so assigned, not a bunch of overzealous operatives of a law enforcement agency with a long history of treating lawyers and court orders with disdain.
And on top of all these shambolic show, most courts did not sit as a workshop was said to be going on.
If the NBA does not have a strongly-worded response this time to this aberration, its relevance in securing the ease of practice of any and every lawyer will be further diminished.”
